


The Needle Effect

by AnxiousCoffee (TheHallowedAngel)



Series: Silence In Common [3]
Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Blood, Canon Compliant, Emetophilia, Fainting, Fourth Part In The Series Is Gonna Get Real Gay, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Matthew Casey Is Afraid Of Needles, Mild Blood, Needles, Other, Passing Out, Protective Kelly Severide, Set s02e05 A Power Move, Sevacey Only Hinted, Sick Matthew Casey, Sickfic, Trypanophobia, Vomiting, emeto, fear of needles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 02:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17613827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHallowedAngel/pseuds/AnxiousCoffee
Summary: An expansion on Matt's needle phobia mentioned in Tough Ride, in which he doesn't do as well in the wellness check as he thought he could. But it's okay, Kelly is there to help him through whatever.





	The Needle Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this has taken ten years from my life, but here ya'll go. I'm really quite proud of this one, so I hope you enjoy it ^ ^

Matt and Kelly were both sat in Matt’s quarters when Mills knocked on the door, Kelly laying on the bed and Matt sat backwards on his desk chair with his arms crossed over the back, chin resting on top of them. 

“Come in.” Matt called out, scrubbing a hand over his mouth and sitting up straight. Kelly turned his head to watch Pete walk in, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re uh, ready for you two.” He said, hanging off of the door-frame.

Matt raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Health check. We just need to check your vitals and draw some blood and then send that off for testing.” Mills smiled at the two before tapping the door frame twice with his hand and going to leave. “We’re in the meeting room, we’re doing you both together to save time.”

And then he was gone, jogging off down the hallway. 

Kelly pushed himself up into a sitting position and cast a glance over at Matt, watching him rub his eyes with the heels of his palms before slapping his hands on his thighs.

“You gonna be okay?” Severide asked, concerned. If their drive out to the woods the other month had taught him anything it’s that Matt is scared of one thing and one thing only; needles.

Matt shrugged “Why wouldn't I be?”

“You know, because of the blood test?” Kelly swung his legs off the bed and lent his elbow on his lap. “You’re terrified of needles, right?”

Matt looked as though he wanted to say something but was refraining, instead he just shrugged.

-

“Just going to take your blood pressure, lieutenant.” Shay said, her and Mills weaving seamlessly around each other as they worked in tandem, passing cuffs and leads between themselves without having to pay attention to what they were doing. 

Matt nodded, smirking as Kelly watched the two of them work in awe, flinching a little as Shay inflated the band around his arm. 

“120 over 75, not too shabby, Lieutenant” Mills said, watching the gauge move, running the numbers in his head as he calculated Kelly’s blood pressure. Kelly, in response, shot Matt a cocky smirk.

“I make Casey’s 110 over 70.” Shay muttered, releasing the air from the cuff and removing it. Kelly’s grin faltered and Matt stuck his tongue out at him.

“Right, Mills, if I mark those down, can you sort the stuff out for the blood samples? We should have a couple of the multi-sample needles left in there somewhere. Collection tubes should be in the tray on the table” Shay was stuffing the equipment back into the respective bags, not catching how quickly Matt paled at the mention of needles. Kelly did, though, and he leant across to squeeze Matt’s shoulder gently. Casey nodded, stuffing his hands between his thighs to hide the fact that they were starting to shake.

“Okay, where’s the tourniquet?” Mills was pulling on his gloves now, Matt swallowed and tensed up. 

“On the table, behind Severide.” Shay was scribbling the numbers down now, Matt’s heart was pounding in his ears.

There was a sound to the left of him and he looked across to see Mills dropping equipment into one of those cardboard kidney dishes; two blood draw needles, four tubes and the tourniquet he’d asked about. Peter set the tray down next to him and Matt’s mouth was suddenly way too dry.

“Gauze” Shay called out, tossing a sealed packet over her shoulder, which Mills caught with ease.

Matt felt all the hairs on his body stand on end, watching with wary eyes as Mills took out one of the needles and advanced towards him.

Kelly put his hand out, grabbing his shoulder.

“Why don’t you do me first, Mills? I gotta take a leak and I’m afraid I might pee out something important or whatever.” Kelly says, giving Mills a stern look when he hesitates. 

“Sure, lieutenant.” Leslie clapped a hand against Mills’ shoulder and grinned, digging her nails into the flesh playfully. Mills, laughing, twisted out of her grasp and stepped away.

After kneading his shoulder for a moment, he picked up and uncapped one of the needles. 

Matt very quickly looked away, pulling out his phone to make it look like he was doing something other than biting down on the inside of his cheek. The nausea was setting in now, he heard the cap clatter against the floor and it just sent the reality of things crashing down on him.

Kelly hissed quietly as Pete pushed the needle in just before the crease of his elbow, watching as Mills punctured the top of a tube with the other end and let the blood start to flow; Matt swore he could hear it rushing into the tube.

-

Matt must have completely shut off because the next thing he knew, Mill’s was waving a hand in front of his eyes with this stupid grin on his face.

“You with us, lieutenant?” Peter laughed and Shay snorted, smiling from ear to ear. Matt struggled to piece together words in his head, tongue to heavy in his mouth to cooperate.

He settled for nodding, looking over at Kelly for something,  _ anything _ , to help him get out of this with his dignity intact.

“Matt’s just not feeling great, Mills, it’s nothing to worry about.” Kelly said, in one breath, and shrugged, swinging his legs. Mill’s, though doubtful, nodded, pulling off his gloves to replace them with a new pair.

“Just as long as he’s not going to throw up on me,” He was joking, of course, but no one else laughed.

Everything was ringing, his vision somehow felt like it was buzzing, and he was shaking all over now; he didn’t even hear Mills speak if he was honest. Right now nothing was making sense.

Kelly reached over and rested a hand on Matt’s shoulder, watching his throat work with troubled eyes and then scanning the room for something-  _ anything _ -just in case push came to shove. 

Mills slapped the skin on the inside of Casey’s elbow and then waited for a vein to show, clicking his tongue when Matt’s body refused to provide and tightening the tourniquet to try again. There was a small noise of triumph when he finally spotted one, trapping his bottom lip between his teeth in a smug smile and uncapping the needle.

“Small pinch,” he muttered and Matt’s heart  _ stopped _ , air going cold in his lungs and freezing him solid. He wanted to look away but his eyes were stuck to the  _ thing _ that Mills was about to impale him with, at the exact wrong time Kelly’s hand disappeared and the world came to a stand still. In when the needle and out went any shred of okay Matt had been hanging onto, leaving him all at once along with a groan that sounded alien and not of his mouth- which had gotten all too full of saliva. Mills pressed the first tube to the other side and Matt had to resist the urge to yank his arm away, hands growing clammy against his trousers as he dug his fingers into the flesh of his thighs, trying everything he could to keep his body in check. The first one filled, Mills swapped to the next, and Matt felt himself starting to fade out. 

He briefly wondered if he was going to pass out before he threw up but his body already had that decision down; first when the hearing, then the vision, and then the rest of him.

Leslie moved fast but Kelly got there first, releasing a huff of air as Matt crashed against his chest, unmoving. Mills was dazed. He had no idea how he was meant to react to this and his hands fumbled as he hurried to remove the second tube and pull the needle out of Matt’s arm before he damaged his veins.Seems like he wasn’t quick enough, though, as blood was soon snaking the entire way down his arm and smearing over his and Kelly’s shirt as the other lieutenant maneuvered him to hug hi tighter to his chest.

“Shay, get the trash can from by the door,” Kelly barked, holding the side of Matt’s head to keep him close. “Mills, patch that up, would you?” He sounded annoyed, speaking in a very condescending way even though the candidate did nothing wrong. Mills nodded, however, and took no offense, picking a cotton ball out of the tray and taping it tight to the crook of Matt’s arm, wiping as much of the blood off as he could. Kelly shooed them both out as soon as he had the bin in his hand, telling them they could come back in when he said so. Mills was quick to comply but Shay put up a fight, trying to talk Kelly into letting her in on whatever the fuck just happened. 

He didn’t say a word; she left.

Matt could have only been out for maybe 40 seconds, the steady sound of Severide’s heart the first thing he was aware of. Then it was the spinning in his head, like someone had stuck one of those stick blenders in through his ear and was in the process of scrambling his brains. 

Kelly shook him, gently, until he opened his eyes and bolted upright. A ragged breath and an ominous gurgle were the only warning signs he got before Matt was lurching over his lap with an empty retch, scrambling to cover his mouth with both hands.

Severide almost wasn’t fast enough, managing to have the trash bin under Matt’s chin just as he heaved, choking up a beige coloured slurry. There was a moment of silence, hesitation, as Matt tried to breathe, but soon enough he was folding over himself, pitching forward with a harsh sound that tore from his chest and left his throat raw. 

Kelly kept a hand on the small of his back as he coughed up whatever it was that was in his stomach

“C’mon, Matt, just breathe. You’re good, you’re okay.” Kelly soothed quietly, eyeing the door almost as though he expected someone to come through it. Matt coughed, straining over the bin as his body tried to get rid of stomach contents he didn’t have left. He was still worked up over the needle, Kelly could feel him shaking in his grip and it pulled at his heart strings, and he stupidly cast a glance at Matt’s face and found that tears were streaming down his nose. Had he not been throwing up, Kelly was sure he would be sobbing. 

“Okay, Matt, come back to me, man.” He said softly, squeezing his shoulder and frowning. He needed to calm him down, getting himself this panicked will do him no good. 

Kelly moved so he was stood in front of Matt and bent just enough so that he could comfortably hold his shoulders, shaking them gently. 

“Hey. Hey! Matt? Don’t get lost, you hear?” Kelly searched his eyes and waited for some sign, any sign, that the words were getting through. Eventually, his irises started to focus and the gagging stopped, breathing again.

When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and quiet. “Kelly?” he blinked, chest rising and falling as he panted, heart still racing. As his surroundings started to flood in, the disorientating fog started to lift from his mind, the smell of stomach acid and soured food hitting him much harder than he could have ever been prepared for. He rushed to scrub a hand over his chin, wiping off whatever was left there. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry- I-I thought I would be okay, I didn’t mean-” Matt started to get riled up again but Kelly quickly cut him off, planting a hand either side of his face and silencing him immediately.

“Cut that out, okay? It’s not your fault.” Kelly was really close to his face by this point and a heavy blush rose to Matt’s cheeks. Kelly hovered where he was for a moment, almost like he was considering if he should do what he wanted to or not, before he drew back and grabbed the trash can out of Matt’s grip; he set it on the floor.

“Damn it, Casey, you scared the shit out of me though.” He chastised, not harshly, and pulled Matt into a tight hug. For the briefest second, Matt was too dazed to move, but his hands were soon on Kelly’s back, holding him just as tight. There was that same heat again.

When they pulled apart, Kelly straightened out his shirt as a way of distracting himself, not wanting to address the mess of feelings and thoughts currently swimming around his head, and it took Matt a while to gather the courage to look Severide in the eyes to say something.

“Thank you, for y’know, that.” he mumbled, scratching the back of one hand absently. Kelly, in return, shot him a grin and shrugged. 

“Yeah well, we’re buddies,”-that word stung them both-“you’d have done the same for me.”

Matt nodded, something unknown stealing his words away. 

And as they both walked out of that room, Matt carrying his shame along with everything else in the bin he held as far way as he could manage, Kelly found himself questioning his feelings towards the other lieutenant. Or, to be specific, just how platonic they weren’t. Back there, when he was close enough to see every little detail in Matt’s eyes, to tell apart the different shades of blonde in his hair, he had wanted to kiss him on the forehead. It had seemed so right, so normal, in the moment, but he stopped himself. 

He didn’t know why but he had stopped himself. And he was starting to wish he didn’t.


End file.
